are digital recordings on vinyl any better than CD

Orpheus, there are quite a few places that service and repair reel to reel decks, some are very good, as I heard. No, it is not inexpensive but nor is it necessarily very expensive. Tape cost will depend on how many of reels you need and the speed at which you record, of course, assuming two track in any case. And you can get Otari deck in apparently good condition for about $1000. I am just not ready for this project yet but I'll get there in time. 80% of my listening is tape, Nakamichi 682ZX with Maxell Vertex cassette, 10% - records and another 10% - computer. I virtually don't listen to cds, I record the tracks I like onto the tape and listen to compilations. And I have my Nak serviced and aligned every 5/6 years by Willy Hermann in California.

I had a friend in the 70's who preferred the sound of an LP on tape to the sound of the same LP (direct, not taped).  Go figure.  It's somewhat subjective.  I would bet that many CD fans will prefer the CD and many vinyl fans will prefer the vinyl in this situation.  It puts them in their  respective comfort zones.

Tape is the only true audiophile medium, in my view, and it shows even when the original is not tape. I am not surprised at all. But you do need good reel to reel to fully appreciate it. Cassette has its limits, and I think I have reached them.

As an additional note, I have one Vertex cassette that I played probably 500 times, and though mechanically it does show age, it sounds just as it did the first time. Try that with any record on any turntable. And I keep playing it every week or so. But I almost never rewind or fastforward, that's how you wear tapes. And I clean playback head about every ten hours of play.

Tape is a natural medium. It breathes. The cassettes I have of Heifetz violin concertos on RCA Living Stereo exceed their CD bretheren in terms of forcefulness, tone, detail and overall musicality. It actually sounds like a Guarneri and not something generic.